Deion Jones & Darron Lee make ESPN's list of most overrated prospects

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Deion Jones, LB, LSU

Most good linebackers are also good athletes, but not every athletic linebacker has success in the NFL. Jones can wow with his athleticism, and that has many analysts projecting him as an early-round pick. Unfortunately the tape doesn't back up his case as an early rounder. The LSU product ranked 130th out of 145 linebacker prospects in this draft class, grading poorly both against the run and in coverage. His run woes stem from an inability to get off blocks, while also sometimes being slow to diagnose plays, inviting second-level blocks from offensive linemen. He missed one out of every 5.3 tackle attempts, which ranked 114th in the nation. In coverage, the flashes are great -- during one Senior Bowl practice, he broke up a pass on a crossing route while playing cover-3, a route combination that crushes NFL defenses on a weekly basis -- but he was far too inconsistent on a snap-to-snap basis. He had as many lapses in coverage as he did big plays.


Darron Lee, LB, Ohio State

Lee is similar to Jones, but Lee hasn't been nearly as bad on the field. The problem with Lee are his projections as a first-round pick. He's an explosive player, but when it comes to beating blocks in the running game or playing a clean game in coverage, Lee hasn't produced as one would expect from a top pick. There are certainly some highlights -- his pick-six on a bubble screen comes to mind -- but Lee still graded at minus-.2 in coverage, good for 74th among linebackers in the class, while grading at minus-3.4 in coverage in 2014. He has been solid against the run at plus-15.6 over the past two years, but he has 25 missed tackles on 134 attempts during that time, a similar rate as Jones. Lee's best work has come as a pass-rusher (plus-20 over the past two seasons), but he's lacking in key areas to be considered in the first round.

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A'Shawn Robinson, DL, Alabama

There's a lot to like about Robinson's game, but he's lacking in an extremely important area: pass-rushing. Built like a classic 3-4 defensive end, Robinson is stout against the run, ranking 13th in the nation each of the past two years, but he has done little to affect the quarterback so his projections at the top end of the first round don't add up. As a pass-rusher, he ranked 197th in 2014 and 115th in 2015, so massive improvement needs to be made for him to be considered more than an early-down run stopper.

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Vadal Alexander, G, LSU

While it may be harsh to put Alexander on this list, as he's projected to play guard in the NFL, his work at right tackle for LSU was one-dimensional at best. He graded negatively in pass protection each of the past two years, including a minus-6.1 mark that ranked 96th among offensive tackles in the class. He also ranked second in the class with 12 penalties. Alexander fared a little better in the running game where his plus-5.8 grade ranked 33rd in the class. For a guard conversion, however, we'd like to see more dominance at the point of attack. Alexander is a late Day 3 prospect, at best.

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